'Narath arms seizure a conspiracy'

Terming the seizure of arms and explosive materials from its camp at Narath in Kannur as a ‘conspiracy,’ Popular Front of India (PFI) on Monday demanded a fair and independent probe by a sitting judge into the incident.

Police had on April 23 conducted a raid on a suspected weapons training camp of the PFI at Narath and seized two country-made bombs, eight swords, bomb-making materials and gunpowder. A total of 21 PFI activists were also taken into custody.

“According to reports in the media, arms and explosives were seized from the camp. But the truth is that the arrests were made first and the weapons and explosives from somewhere else were produced later by the police as part of a conspiracy,” PFI state president Karamana Ashraf Moulavi told a news conference.

After the raid, there were media reports linking the seized weapons to the Marad carnage. Then came the report about the Iran connection after an identity card from Kish - an island in Iran - was found during the raid. Now there are reports about our members’ involvement in Bangalore blasts,” Moulavi said adding that these ‘one-sided stories’ were planted in the media by the police.

In the wake of conflicting versions from investigating agencies, only a fair and independent probe by a sitting judge can bring out the truth, he said. Since the seizure of arms and explosives from Kannur from both the BJP and CPM activists were of a larger magnitude, a national agency should probe in detail arms and explosives cases in the past 10 years, he said. Denying any ‘foreign links’ by the PFI, Moulavi said the organisation functions with contribution from its 29,000 members in the state and also from annual fund-raising drives within the state. “No money from abroad is received for any activities of our organisation,” he said.

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